Virgil van Dijk, Philippe Coutinho and Alexis Sánchez are just three of the refuseniks who will have to buckle downA penny for someone’s thoughts seems a ludicrously old-fashioned saying in the era of the £1.4bn Premier League transfer window. But now the whole brouhaha is over it is hard not to wonder what is going on inside the heads of players whose hopes were dashed on deadline day. It is the football world’s equivalent of being stood up for a dream date. Wake up full of nervous expectancy, impossible to think about anything else all day, then the wretched waiting before the bleak realisation that nothing special is going to happen.So what now for Virgil van Dijk and Philippe Coutinho,...
Arsène Wenger’s consistent failure to purchase leaders and address problems in the middle of the pitch continues to amaze and appal in equal measureIf Brian Clough was displeased with a performance, his players knew about it.There was an occasion at half-time during a Nottingham Forest match when, unhappy with a couple of failed stepovers and a cross that went behind the goal, he punched the culprit, Nigel Jemson, in the stomach. Related: Another early-season breakdown for Arsenal but no sign of any change | Amy Lawrence Continue reading...
The 4-0 humiliation at Liverpool was one of 20 such in the past five years but no one seems able to initiate the radical changes needed in responseIn the thick of Arsenal’s chronic breakdown at Anfield on Sunday it did not take long for football’s splurging social commentary to begin establishing just how bad this was compared with other abhorrences. How rotten exactly are things in the state of Arsenal? As bad as the 8-2 at Manchester United? On a par with the season they were dismembered by vicious scorelines at Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea? Worse than an aggregate 10-2 thumping from Bayern Munich? More embarrassing than imploding in fright at home to Swansea or Watford or Aston Villa?Hereby...
The Liverpool manager gave his No1 goalkeeper, Simon Mignolet, a break but his second choice got a rest too as Alexis Sánchez and co failed to threatenSir Alex Ferguson once galvanised Manchester United for victory with a team-talk that stretched no further than: “Lads, it’s Tottenham.” The same brutally dismissive thought may have crossed Jürgen Klopp’s mind before Liverpool destroyed their north London rivals. The Liverpool manager chose the perfect day and the perfect opponent to rest his first-choice goalkeeper. His second choice enjoyed a day of rest too, although Loris Karius was on the pitch against Arsenal.Any misgivings or judgment on Klopp’s decision to give Simon Mignolet a day off was postponed by yet another anaemic Arsenal performance at...
After a comfortable win by Liverpool, Arsène Wenger may regret turning down the chance to field his ideal triumvirate of forwards at AnfieldWere Arsenal fans excited about the return of Alexis Sánchez? Yes. Were they dismayed when it turned out to be at the expense of Alexandre Lacazette? You bet. Much had been written and said about the performance of Liverpool’s front three after the performance against Hoffenheim in midweek. Here was Arsène Wenger’s chance to fight fire with fire by selecting a fairly nifty front three of his own. Yet instead of going for the obvious option, not to mention the strongest, the ever quirky Arsenal manager chose to bench his new record signing and give Danny Welbeck a...